Tokyo Big Sight

Tokyo Big Sight(Đông Kinh ビッグサイト,Tōkyō Biggu Saito),officially known asTokyo International Exhibition Center(Đông Kinh quốc tế triển lãm tràng,Tōkyō Kokusai Tenjijō),is aconvention and exhibition centerinTokyo,Japan,and the largest one in the country. Opened in April 1996, the center is located in theAriakeMinami district of theTokyo Waterfront Cityon theTokyo Baywaterfront. Its most iconic feature is the visually distinctive Conference Tower. The name Tokyo Big Sight in Japanese eventually became the official name, and it also became the name of the operator in April 2003.

Tokyo Big Sight (Tokyo International Exhibition Center)
Conference Tower
Address	3-11-1 Ariake,Koto-ku,Tokyo,135-0063,Japan
Owner	Tokyo Big Sight Inc. owned ultimately by theTokyo Metropolitan Government,withMitsui FudosanandToshibaas minority investors
Operator	Tokyo Big Sight Inc.
Inaugurated	1 April 1996
Opened	April 01, 1996(1996-04-01)
Construction cost	¥198.5 billion(¥206 billion in 2019 yen)
Classroom-styleseating	18-882
Banquet/ballroom	882
Theatre seating	20-1,100
Enclosed space
• Total space	102,887 square metres (1,107,470 sq ft)
• Exhibit hall floor	East Exhibition Hall: 51,380 m2(553,000 sq ft) (6 halls) West Exhibition Hall: 29,280 m2(315,200 sq ft) (4 halls) Atrium: 2,000 m2(22,000 sq ft) Rooftop Exhibition Area: 6,000 m2(65,000 sq ft) Outdoor Exhibition Area: 9,000 m2(97,000 sq ft)
• Breakout/meeting	Conference Tower: 5,137 square metres (55,290 sq ft) (2 halls and 22 rooms) East Exhibition Hall: 90 m2(970 sq ft) (1 room)
• Ballroom	1,700 square metres (18,000 sq ft) (1 room)
Parking	Permanent: About 1,448 units (2 underground and 2 outdoor areas) Temporary: maximum 1,932 units (1 outdoor)
Public transit access	Tokyo Big Sight Station(Yurikamome) Kokusai-tenjijo Station(Rinkai Line)
Website
www.bigsight.jp/english/

Đông Kinh ビッグサイト ( Đông Kinh quốc tế triển lãm tràng )
General information
Coordinates	35°37′47″N139°47′39″E
Completed	October 1995
Cost	198.5 billion yen
Technical details
Floor area	230,873.07 m2(2,485,097.0 sq ft)
Grounds	243,419.46 m2(2,620,145.3 sq ft)
Design and construction
Architecture firm	AXS Satow
Main contractor	Hazama JV

The center hosts theComiketconvention since 1996 and theAnimeJapanconvention since 2014. It previously hosted theTokyo International Anime Fairfrom 2002 to 2013. It was a planned venue for the2020 Summer Olympicshostingwrestling,fencingandtaekwondoevents, but the reduction of public funds forced the organization committee to choose an alternative location for these events; it instead served as the main broadcasting and press center for the Games.

Location and components

Tokyo Big Sight at night

Located on the shore ofTokyo Bay,about 30 minutes by rail fromTokyo Station(12 minutes by car), Big Sight is Japan's largest international convention venue.Its most distinctive feature is the unique architecture of its 58 metres (190 ft) high eight-storey ConferenceTower.The site utilizessteel framewithreinforced concreteconstruction, boasting a total floor area of 230,873 square metres (2,485,100 sq ft) which outsizesMakuhari Messe's floor space by half,and of which35% is indoors. The convention center is divided into three main areas, each with their ownrestaurantsand other supporting facilities: TheEast Exhibition Hall,theWest Exhibition Halland theConference Tower.

Conference Tower

As seen from the ground

The architectural element most associated with the Tokyo Big Sight name, the glass andtitanium-panelled Conference Tower appears as a set of four invertedpyramidsmounted upon large supports. The first floor comprises an 1,100-seat reception hall and four conference rooms of varying size. The second floor comprises theEntrance Plazawhich is the main access area, theglass-roofedEvent Plaza,theEntrance Hallwhich leads to the exhibition halls proper, and theExhibition Plaza.There are no floors three through five due to the structure's above-ground stature.

Floors six and seven can be directly accessed viaescalatorfrom the second-floor Entrance Hall, and comprise the main convention facilities of the Tower. The sixth floor houses ten conference rooms of small to medium size, some of which can be merged into larger spaces by removing intervening partitions.Floor seven houses the 1,000-seat International Conference Room as well as three conference rooms of much smaller size. Floor eight houses five conference rooms.

Scattered around the Tower's vicinity arepublic artpieces, most of which are works by international artists such asClaes Oldenburgand his wife Coosje Van Bruggen,Michael Craig-MartinandLee U-Fan.These include a giant sculpture of a saw,a large stylized pond and threemarblebeds.

East Exhibition Hall

The central Galleria

The East Exhibition Hall's main layout consists of a central 600 metres (2,000 ft) long two-tieredgalleria,flanked on both sides by three mostly identical exhibition halls, and has underground parking available.The overall height of the structure is three storeys, with the galleria reaching two storeys. The glass-roofed galleria is equipped withmoving walkwaysfor easier movement, food outlets, escalators, electronic signboards and a host of other relevant facilities.

Each hall has a mobile roof that enables exhibitors to control the amount ofsunlightcoming through, recessed electronic and control service pits at regular intervals (6 metres (20 ft)), a show office, four meeting rooms and a dressing room. It is possible to merge a hall with adjacent halls on the same side, allowing for a maximum continuous floor space three times the capacity of a single hall, or a grand total of 26,010 square metres (280,000 sq ft) 26,010 m².

Unlike its West counterpart, the East Exhibition Hall is not located next to the main Conference Tower area.

West Exhibition Hall

The Atrium on a busy day

The West Exhibition Hall's layout consists of four internal halls surrounding a central two-tieredAtrium.Halls one and two occupy the first floor, and are each equipped with a single meeting room, two show offices and seven meeting rooms. If necessary, they can be merged with the glass-roofed atrium area to maximize all available exhibition space. Halls three and four are individually smaller than the first floor halls, as the rest of the space not taken up by the Atrium's upper area is largely the rooftop exhibition area.

Adjacent to the West Exhibition Hall is an outdoor exhibition area, which like the rooftop area overlooks the waterfront. Like the other exhibition areas in the Tokyo Big Sight, it is possible to combine both upper halls and both spaces together to create a single continuous floor area. All in all, the West Exhibition Hall boasts in total six show offices, twenty-three meeting rooms and three dressing rooms. The gross total floor area of the Hall stands at 46,280 square metres (498,200 sq ft).

Construction

Contracted by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's Bureau of Finance, the construction of the entire site was handled by eight contractors in total, among them companies such as theHazamaandShimizuCorporations. Construction began in October 1992 and was finished in October 1995. The total contract was worth¥40,392million.Forty-five percent of that sum went to Hazama, the sole contractor of the Tower segment.

ThenGovernor of TokyoShunichi Suzukiwas present at the 1994 lifting-up ceremony on June 30, which initiated the raising the Tower's 6,500 short tons (5,900 t) main structure above ground,a process which took three days to complete using a computer-guided system that preciselyjackedthe structure up into place.A 250-ton aerialescalatorwas installed later to formally link the raised structure to the ground floors.

See also

• Intex Osaka
• Tourism in Tokyo

External links

• Official website(in English)
• Tokyo Big Sight Map